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In Loving Memory of Cody: 6 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Got A Dog

June 15, 2014

This post is in loving memory of Cody, who passed away exactly one year ago today.

It was almost midnight. I sat eye to eye with my sweet Cody who was on a gurney, his left paw hanging over the edge as I held it tightly in my hand. I stroked his head with my other hand and told him how much I loved him, how much he meant to me and how sorry I was that he was in so much pain and I couldn’t help him. The tears were flowing down my face as I sobbed and looked into his big, beautiful, kind brown eyes for the last time. The emergency vet administered the lethal injection to end his suffering and just like that the boy who had been my sidekick for 14 years slipped away…

Losing him would have been hard under any circumstances, but the amount of suffering that this loving, innocent creature had to endure was utterly unbearable to watch. Cody had gone into acute kidney failure just a few days before he ultimately died. Kidney failure is a terrible way to go and the suffering that accompanies it is horrific. But in hindsight there were so many things that may have prevented such a horrible death. Things that may have been able to prevent his kidney disease all together.

Up until the end, Cody lived a wonderful life. He was loved immensely by his family and we could feel his love in return. He got to travel the US and even visit the ocean just a few months before he died. He was a beautiful soul and he is missed terribly. Cody is largely the reason for me becoming interested in nutrition and starting this blog.

I hope by sharing what I’ve learned we can prevent other dogs from sharing similar fates.

6 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Got A Dog

Read Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Cats & Dogs. Nutrition is the foundation of health and wellness. And that goes for humans and animals alike. Human and animal bodies are natural machines and what we put in them undoubtedly affects how they work. This book is an extensive guide for helping our dogs and cats live long, healthy lives. Its pages are filled with in-depth information on health, wellness, nutrition and recipes for making your dog’s food yourself. This book was my guide for switching Cody to a real food diet. It truly helped me add years to Cody’s life and I only wish I had found it sooner. You can order a copy here.

Don’t trust advertising when it comes to pet food. In regards to human food I’ve heard it said that the key to eating healthy is avoiding any food that has a TV commercial. The same goes for pet food. When I started doing research into Cody’s diet I was horrified by what I learned. Pet food is a billion dollar business. And the concern isn’t our pets’ health…it’s all about making money. It’s big business. Kibble, which we have been duped to believe is the best source of food for our dogs, is literally devoid of nutritional value. Think of all the different ingredients we are told are in our pet food…the fact that all those ingredients always end up as little brown pellets means that the food has been so altered from its original state that the nutritional content is close to zilch. It’s as if we ate crackers day in and day out for our whole lives. We wouldn’t be very healthy now would we? And since the pet food industry is not held to the same standards as our food industry, the stuff they get away with putting in dog food is appalling. Did you know when your commercial pet food says it’s a great source of protein, implying that it’s made of beef, chicken or any other meat, that “protein” can actually be made up 100% of cow hair, animal hooves, claws, feathers, etc. Isn’t that disturbing? This is because it’s more economical to the pet food companies to make pet food out of the parts of animals deemed unfit for human consumption, i.e. the parts that are already sitting on the slaughterhouse floor after all the meat has been taken to sell to humans. As I learned in my nutrition studies, you should never trust what it says on the front packaging of food. Only pay attention to the ingredient list and nutritional content on the back of food packaging. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to what’s in our pet’s food. But go take a look at your pet’s food. What are the first 3 ingredients? Do you see the word by-product anywhere? If it’s not something you would put in your body…why put it in theirs?

Listen to your dog. Dogs are master communicators. It’s us humans that don’t do a good job understanding them. Cody had absolutely been trying to tell us he didn’t feel well before he died. We just misunderstood what he was saying. His changes in behavior that we were told to write off as silly quirks were actually his way of telling us how terrible he felt. Untreated kidney disease causes pervasive, intense nausea. He woke us up at night in the months before he died, which he had never done before. He would also sit at his food bowl and cry while looking at it, without eating. Another new behavior he developed in the months before he died. In retrospect he was so clearly telling us he couldn’t sleep because he didn’t feel well and he didn’t want to eat because he was nauseous. There is a great book on this topic called Inside of A Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know which offers scientific research as to how dogs view the world and how they try to communicate. I wish I had read it when Cody was a puppy!

You are your pet’s best advocate. Do your research. Working as a child life specialist in a hospital I was always reminding parents that they are their child’s best advocate. You know your child best. If something doesn’t seem right, speak up. The same goes for our pets. Cody had developed arthritis when he was a young adult dog. (In retrospect…not normal!! A young dog should not be plagued with arthritis.) This arthritis was most likely caused by poor nutrition. We were doing what we thought was right and feeding him what our vets told us to feed him. But as I mentioned before kibble is kibble and its nutritional content is very low. His vets recommended we put him on a medication called Rimadyl to treat the symptoms of arthritis. Rimadyl is a NSAID or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. We trusted our vets and it seemed to help so Cody remained on Rimadyl for years. But it was never explained to us how truly detrimental Rimadyl could be for his long-term health. It wasn’t until years later that I picked up a magazine on animal wellness and learned about the scary side effects of Rimadyl. The article explained that Rimadyl is only intended for short-term use and that prolonged use can lead to…you guessed it…kidney failure. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I felt like I had unknowingly been poisoning my sweet boy for years. After discussing it with my family we all decided to wean him off of the Rimadyl and see what state his arthritis was in…because come to think of it…we didn’t even know what his arthritis was like now because he had been medicated for so long. It was amazing to see that once we took him off the store-bought kibble and started feeding him real food, his arthritis disappeared before our eyes. (Which by the way is the same thing that happens to humans when they switch to a plant-based diet.) Cody was more fit and limber when he died at 14 than he had been when he was 6 years old. But if we hadn’t brought this up to our vet ourselves, no one else would have. It seems no coincidence that he ate a poor commercial diet and took Rimadyl for so many years of his life, and ultimately died of kidney failure. You are their best advocate. Do your research and voice your concerns!

Skin issues are the first indication of internal issues. Once you do some research into canine health you will see this theme over and over again. Our bodies’ first line of defense when something doesn’t feel right is to try to flush it out of our system. And this often happens through our skin. If your pet has a skin issue that you can’t figure out..keep this in mind. Instead of covering up the symptoms with medications try to find the root cause of the problem.

Explore alternative treatments. As I mentioned, we were able to almost completely rid Cody of his arthritis. This was done through the combination of a healthy diet, glucosamine & chondroitin supplements and laser therapy. Just weeks before he died Cody was rolling on his back kicking his feet up in the air like a happy puppy. Something he wasn’t able to do when he was only on the Rimadyl. Look into holistic treatments that take into consideration root causes of health issues in our pets, not just the symptoms. To learn more about Companion Laser Therapy click here. To learn more about holistic treatments for pets and the American Council for Animal Naturopathy, click here.

28 thoughts on “In Loving Memory of Cody: 6 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Got A Dog”

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Hello! This is a fantastic article and I am so sorry for your loss. I have just started following you and I am blown away by your knowledge about a plant-based diet for people and animals. I was curious about your thoughts on heartworm and flea-tick medicine. Which one did you guys use or would recommend using? I am nervous about the medicines side effects.

Hi Suzanne! Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate everything you said. It’s great that you’re looking into what’s best for your four legged friends. I don’t have an official opinion yet regarding heartworm and flea-tick medications, as I only started to really question them after Cody passed away, and I haven’t had my own dog since, so I haven’t looked into it enough to give you an educated answer. However, what I do know from what I’ve started to learn is that there seem to be lots of people who don’t use the typical medications, and their dogs seem to be doing well with alternative treatments instead. My best advice would be to find an integrative vet in your area, and talk it over with them. That’s what I will definitely do whenever I have my own dog again in the future. I hope that was helpful. Sorry I couldn’t be more specific. Thank you again for your comment and for visiting my blog. All the best! – Tedi

Hi Tedi! I can’t believe it’s been 1 whole year! I remember learning about the sad news on FB and had to re-read it a few times to believe it. It was so surreal. Joshua and I cried that day. He definitely had one special sole and was the sweetest and kindest dog ever! Cody also had you- the most kindest and loving family. We miss Cody so much. We also smile, thinking of him.

I’m very sorry about your pup!
I have been feeding my dogs a raw meat diet for the last 7 months. I’m wondering based on what you’ve read what you think about that. And what exactly were you feeding your dog up until he died?

Hi Molly! Thank you for your kind words about Cody. I think you are right on track with your pups…real, whole food diets are best! I was feeding Cody a diet of mostly grains, fruits/veggies & a little bit of cooked meat in the last years before he died. But he had eaten kibble his whole life before then. When I get another dog some day I will be doing more research as to what to feed them from day one, because it seems like we have been way overestimating the amount of meat they need in their diets (same with humans!). I would check out Dr. Pitcairn’s book it has an extensive guide for making your dogs own food… but sounds like you are already on top of it with the raw diet 🙂 Thanks for stopping in!

Hey I’m so sorry for your loss… I can only imagine how terribly horrifying it would be for me to watch my dog pass on… My dog, a west highland terrier, has a terrible skin problem too. I’ve spent up to a thousand dollars on him just to get the monthly subscription of medication and creams. Especially on his ears, which tend to dry out and turn flaky all the time, and it’ll be really itchy for him… The worst part of all is that he’ll always be scratching it which makes his ear bleed. 🙁 the doctor said its some kind of allergy but I really don’t know what it is… Can you please help me? I live in Singapore and we don’t have access to real pet food (like Woody’s Pet Food)… Do I have to do a standard dietary plan for him? Thank you so much and God bless you.

Hi Jocelyn, thanks for reaching out and for your kind words. I’m sorry to hear about your dog’s skin issues. When Cody was a puppy he had similar issues with his ears. My best recommendation would be to make your puppy’s food yourself. Mostly focused on whole grains, fruits and veggies. I didn’t have a standard dietary plant for him but the book I mentioned “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Cats & Dogs” is the best guide to changing to a real food diet. It’s sold on amazon. I would absolutely recommend getting it. As seems to be the pattern so often, once a dog gets on a really healthy real food diet their skin issues disappear. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help. Definitely order that book. It really changed Cody’s life. Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping in.

Hello! So sorry for your loss…he sounds like he lived a wonderful life with you guys by his side. 🙂 We just adopted a puppy (8 mos) she has had problems with a rash on her tummy that comes and goes. The vet said it could be an allergy and gave me some wipes and a steroid cream but I am concerned because she did get the rash a lot with the foster family and it was Winter. Any suggestions on a good pet brand food to try?? Thank you!

Hi Alicia! Thank you so much for your kind words. I think it’s great that you are looking into what is best for your puppy. I totally remember the skin issues…Cody had them a lot too. The problem with steroid creams is that they eliminate the rash but they don’t do anything to find or eliminate the cause of the rash. Where are you located? Sometimes there are local companies that make all natural, real dog food. (Like Woody’s Pet Food in Minneapolis). Also, I would really suggest getting Dr. Pitcairn’s book…making real food for them is so great and even though it is a little more expensive, hopefully it’ll pay off and your vet bills throughout your puppy’s life will be so much less. I definitely think nutrition is the key to figuring out what your puppy may be reacting to. If you have any more questions feel free to email me at tedisarahblog@gmail.com! Thank you for stopping in!

I cried when I read this. Not only brought back memories but was such a loving & educating tribute. I hope all the doggy cousins are loping around, running free and enjoying their favorite treats! They are so loved…

Hi Tedi~ First off, I am so sorry on the passing of your sweet fur baby. I was teary eyed reading this for many reasons. I recently found out my sweet Lucy has hip dysplasia and arthritis in her right hip (she just turned 3). I have always thought I was feeding her the best food but am beginning to question that. I know some of it can be genetic as she is an English Cream Golden Retriever but maybe there is more going on there…Also, exactly 6 weeks ago she was put on Rimadyl and Glucosamine. I want to look further now into that medication and would love to hear more of your thoughts on that. Thank you for opening my eyes to all of these things. ~Ashley

We miss him too… And journey boy and frankster… It was franks yarzheit this week and I have a pic of you with him at four years old, barely taller than him, with the tightest squeeze around his neck and him just smiling in joy being your buddy… Furklempt moment… Xo

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Hi! I’m Tedi. A plant-based food lover based out of NYC. I created this blog for any of you out there that are like the “old me”…someone who loved animals and wanted to make kinder choices, but just simply didn’t know where to start. I hope this blog will help show you how wonderful a vegan lifestyle can be for people, animals and the planet. 🙂